Erie man sentenced in North East crash that killed fire policeman
An Erie man behind the wheel of a Lexus that struck and killed a fire policeman in North East Township in August 2023 cried in a crowded Erie County courtroom on Thursday morning as he turned to face the victim’s widow.
Dawann M. Simmons, 42, told Adele Giles, the wife of Shawn Giles, that he wanted her to know that the crash was an accident, and that he never intended to hurt anyone.
“I’m just asking you to quiet your mind and open your heart and give me forgiveness,” Simmons said.
Adele Giles, when it was her turn to speak, shed her own tears as she told Simmons she didn’t feel there was any remorse.
The widow of Shawn Giles, who was 53 when he was killed on Aug. 20, 2023, noted the more than 16 months it had taken from the time of the accident until Simmons stood before Judge Daniel Brabender for sentencing Thursday morning. Had Simmons been remorseful, she told him, he would have accepted responsibility and entered pleas in the case sooner.
Adele Giles and others who spoke also took issue with Simmons’ claim that the crash was an accident. Everything done that day was a conscious choice, she told him, from driving on a suspended license to driving over the posted speed limit to speeding into an emergency zone.
“Rather than owning up, the defendant chose to delay, deny and drag us through an agonizing process,” Adele Giles said as she addressed the court.
She added that the crash was not just about a man’s life being taken, but about the “violent, devastating destruction left in his wake.”
After many months of delays that included Simmons getting assigned different lawyers, the case against Simmons essentially ended in November when he pleaded no contest to the lead charge he faced, homicide by vehicle, and pleaded guilty to eight other charges, including a felony count of accidents involving death or injury while not licensed.
Brabender sentenced Simmons on Thursday to nine years, one month to 18 years, two months, in prison on the charges. He sentenced Simmons in the aggravated range on the homicide by vehicle and accidents involving death or injury while not licensed charges, and said he was giving Simmons the maximum sentence on the other charges.
What happened in the accident?
Giles, a fire policeman for the Fuller Hose Co. in North East, was directing traffic around an accident scene on Route 20 at Brickyard Road in North East Township when authorities said Simmons ignored emergency responders and drove into the accident scene, where he struck Giles.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Steven Liboski said during Simmons’ plea hearing on Nov. 7 that the Lexus Simmons was driving was traveling an estimated 78 mph 1.2 seconds before the accident and about 58 mph when Giles was struck. The area where the crash occurred has a posted speed limit of 55 mph, and rules concerning speed at accident sites would have reduced it to 35 mph, he said.
The crash was captured on a Pennsylvania State Police vehicle’s dash camera. Brabender said he reviewed the video, and “it stayed with me a while.”
North East Fire Chief Jack DiOrazio, one of three people who spoke on behalf of Giles at Monday’s sentencing, talked about the accident, what emergency responders at the scene experienced, and what members of his department are still dealing with in the aftermath of Giles’ death. He said that while many of Giles’ fellow firefighters have recovered, nothing will ever be the same for them or for their community.
“If you obeyed simple traffic laws we wouldn’t be here,” DiOrazio told Simmons.
Simmons’ court-appointed lawyer, Nicci Page, called four people to speak on Simmons’ behalf. All talked about his service to the community, which included coaching and refereeing youth sports, and his remorse, and they all asked Brabender to show mercy in sentencing.
Firefighters pay respects as the body of Fuller Hose Co. volunteer Shawn Giles, 53, is taken to a funeral home in North East on Aug. 21, 2023. Giles was assisting Pennsylvania State Police, who were investigating a two-vehicle crash at Route 20 and South Brickyard Road, by directing traffic in the eastbound lanes of Route 20 when he was struck by a 2007 Lexus RX350 driven at a high rate of speed. The motorist who struck him was sentenced to state prison on Thursday.
Page, while noting what she called a heartbreaking and tragic situation, argued that while Simmons’ actions were reckless, they were not intentional. It was an accident that did not have to happen, but it was an accident, Page told Brabender in asking the judge to hand down a standard-range sentence.
Liboski, in arguing for a more serious sentence, pointed out the various violations that led up to the crash, including Simmons driving on a suspended license and speeding.
“The defendant still describes this an an accident,” Liboski said. “It was a crash created by his own callous, careless disregard for anyone else on the road.”
When she was done speaking, Adele Giles showed Brabender a necklace she was wearing, which she said holds Giles’ ring and his ashes.
“This is all I have left of my husband,” she said. “And I carry them every day.”
Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNhahn.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie man sentenced in 2023 North East crash that killed fire policeman
